62 Dignitary Seized by Soldiers
Kumtura, 8th-9th century
Wall painting, 23.0 X 29.0 cm.
MIK III 8915

This fragment of painting was not found in situ but among the debris of a temple. We can only hazard a guess, therefore, as to what its companion pictures—which would have helped us to interpret the scene—might have been.
    From the early history of India we know that the Buddha lived as an itinerant preacher in Magadha, not only tolerated but actually protected by his patrons, the powerful King Bimbisara (ca. 550-490 B.C.) and his violent son Ajatashatru. It is said that in his youth Ajatashatru was a follower of the Buddha's scheming cousin, Devadatta. Devadatta, who according to legend caused a schism in the Buddhist order and several times tried to kill the Buddha, is supposed to have incited Prince Ajatashatru to depose his father, hoping thus to put an end to the activities of his cousin and rival.
    It is a historical fact that King Bimbisara was taken captive by his son Ajatashatru; there is a legendary account of this event in the Amitayurdhyanasutra, a Mahayana text which was translated into Chinese between A.D. 265 and 316 and which contains sections dating from various periods. This scene may be an illustration of the legend, which ends with the murder of the king. The story goes that after his father's violent end Ajatashatru turned away from the power-crazed Devadatta and adopted a friendlier attitude toward the Buddha.

Source: Along the Ancient Silk Routes. Central Asian Art from the West Berlin State Museums (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982), no. 62, pp. 124-126.